Final essay - Running head WHAT YOU PAWN I WILL REDEEM What...

Running head: WHAT YOU PAWN, I WILL REDEEM
1
What You Pawn, I Will Redeem
Shelby Scott
ENG 125
Professor Jessica Gunerson
20161107

WHAT YOU PAWN, I WILL REDEEM
2
The story “What You Pawn, I Will Redeem” by Sherman Alexie speaks of an
Indian man named Jackson who could not seem to get his life together despite being given the
opportunity. When someone is their own worst enemy, and cannot conform to the social norm,
they become an outcast of society. This is precisely the struggle that Jackson was dealing with in
the story. Jackson has lost a lit in his life, most due to his own volition. In the lines below, we
will discuss Jackson and his out of the ordinary behavior in the short story What You Pawn I Will
Redeem. Jackson is a man with many demons to face if he wants to reconnect with past loved
ones.
The conflict in this story is Jackson vs himself. Jackson is, without a doubt, his own
worst enemy. He continues to make the same mistakes and hopes for a different outcome. Being
a social misfit does not faze him. "Being homeless is probably the only thing I've ever been
good at." (Alexie 2003). Jackson accepts his fate before it is properly decided and gives up
before he even starts to better himself. He fills the voids in his life with toxic friendships and
alcohol. It is as if his instincts are telling him that if he tried he will inevitably fail so he chooses
to live his life outside of social normality’s because it comes easy to him.
Jackson is the protagonist as he fights against himself. Throughout the story Jackson is
trying to get enough money to buy back his grandmothers dancing regalia; however, his own
demons get in his way on every exempt. His alcoholism is his biggest battle and he struggles